DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT

IN CULTURE, HERITAGE
AND THE ARTS
Jasper Visser / Jim Richardson

Authors
Jasper Visser and Jim Richardson
Editor Inspired by Coffee.
Jemma Bowman
Design
Sumo
This publication is available under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Share
Alike license. Copyright 2013,
Jasper Visser & Jim Richardson.
CC By-NC-ND Asian Art Museum
In the true spirit of the 21st century, this publication The Digital Engagement Framework helps you to
brings together the ideas, energy and experiments design the strategies, processes and technologies
of many individuals and organisations. Included to systematically engage all stakeholders with
are Kevin Bacon, Rick Lawrence, Laura Fox, Mar your institution in order to maximise the value
Dixon, Bridget McKenzie, Carlotta Margarone, Dana you co-create.
Allen-Greil, Davide Baruzzi, Hans Henrik Appel,
Luca Melchionna, Lynda Kelly, Mylee Joseph, “Our mission is to get cultural
Oliver Zietzke, Pierre-Yves Desaive, Rui Guerra, institutions to use digital media
Ryan Dodge, Samuel Bausson, Steffen Boddeker,
Stephanie Rosestone, Susan te Riet, Travers Lee,
in a more effective way.”
Tony Butler and the great people at Sumo and Jasper Visser is an independent strategy consultant,
change manager and innovator working with not-
for-profit organisations.
Thanks for creating a platform to develop our ideas.
Thank you too for your energy and enthusiasm, jasper@inspiredbycoffee.com
feedback, promotional efforts, skills and patience.
Jim Richardson is founder of design agency Sumo,
This book is for you and all other professionals
the MuseumNext and CultureGeek conferences,
working to connect people with culture, heritage
RaceDay and other brands.
and the arts.
jim@sumodesign.co.uk
We would like to acknowledge the creators of
the Business Model Canvas for showing us a way
to make complex ideas accessible in a simple
framework.
1
Index
Part A Part D Part F
Introduction Assets and audiences Organising engagement
3 Why digital engagement? 22 The key ingredients of your strategy 46  he organisational basis
T
– And why a strategy? 23 Element 4: Assets 47 Element 8: Metrics
4 Digital, online, physical 24 What does your audience expect from you? – Quantity, quality and telling a convincing story
– Digital media, social institutions 25 From assets to content – Measuring engagement
5 Bottom up, or top down? 26 Element 5: Audiences 48 Element 9: Guidelines
– How to use this book – Online communities (1) – Example guidelines
27 Things to know about 21st century audiences 49 Element 10: Channels and content
Part B
28 Using digital tools to research 51 Choosing your channels
The Digital Engagement Framework your assets and audience 52 Developing a content plan
6A framework for digital engagement
Part E Part G
7 Asking the right questions
Digital engagement strategies Seven example frameworks
8 The four building blocks of digital engagement
9 Case studies: The Digital Engagement 29 Reach & engage for your organisation
Framework in practice 30 Phases of engagement 53 Digital engagement for a heritage site
11 Example: Digital engagement in a circus 31 Conversion 54 Digital engagement for an arts council
32 Content and engagement 55 Digital engagement for an exhibition
Part C
33 Case studies: structured engagement in action 56 Digital engagement for a festival
The organisational basis 34 Online communities (2) 57 Digital engagement for a theatre
12 Vision, objectives, trends 35 Case studies: online communities 58 Digital engagement for a local library
– Urge and enthusiasm 36 Element 6: Reaching new audiences 59 Digital engagement for an artist
13 Social leadership in the digital revolution 37 Audience mapping and reach 60 Your digital engagement framework
14 Element 1: Your digital vision 38 Connecting through your assets
Part H
16 How to define your vision 39 Case study: Mapping the playing field for a festival
17 A vision of more social institutions 40 Element 7: Engaging audiences
Making it happen
18 Element 2: Objectives – Strategies to interest people 61 Getting started
19 Element 3: Trends 41 Involve: invite, inspire, facilitate – 10 weeks to a digital engagement strategy
20 How to recognise trends? – Activate your enthusiasts 62 A digital engagement framework workshop
– 12 disruptive trends 42 Case study: Stimulating return 63 Case study: A digital engagement
21 Case studies: Responding to trends visits with digital tools strategy for education
43 Co-created value 64 Our best advice
44 Case study: How one museum 65 Your turn: how to give back?
raised almost 100k Euros
45 Fans, friends and members

2
Part A
Introduction
Why digital engagement? And why a strategy?
Jim and Jasper first met in Newcastle, 2009. Jim Digital engagement is an essential tool in the tool- And because digital media touches every aspect of
had been blogging for a while about cultural kit of the modern organisation. And it touches a modern organisation, it needs to be at the heart of
marketing on a now defunct blog. Jasper had been every aspect of an organisation. We’ve spoken every organisation. In order to get it there, you need
an avid reader, liking the high quality content Jim with organisations whose front desk staff were to know what you’re doing digitally. You need to
shared about social media, campaigns and new completely overwhelmed after their online have a convincing story.
technology. When Jim posted a link to a conference sales skyrocketed during a successful online
We call this convincing story a strategy. It tells you
he was organising on these topics, Jasper googled campaign. We’ve seen social review sites all but
what you will achieve with digital engagement and
Newcastle upon Tyne and bought a ticket. That’s destroy institutions. Fortunately, we’ve also visited
how you will get there. It also gives pointers about
when they met. organisations that were saved, financially or
how it influences other aspects of your organisation
otherwise, because of their digital successes.
Four years later, we’ve been introduced to each and – more importantly - is influenced by your
other’s families, travelled the world helping organisation’s peculiarities, existing ways of working
clients, spoken at each other’s conferences and and employees.
exchanged at least a thousand emails. Newcastle
and Amsterdam may not be far away, but if it hadn’t
been for the blog Jim kept and the social media
networks that made the conversations possible,
we would never have met.
Why digital engagement? Because it’s one of the
best opportunities we’ve had in decades to really
reach and engage other people, work with them on
ideas that are bigger than us and generate value
together. Digital engagement makes things possible
that wouldn’t have been possible in the past, or at
least very difficult.

3

A social institution is an
organisation that has put
in place all the strategies,
technologies and processes
that are needed to
systematically involve all
stakeholders to maximise
co-created value.
Digital, Online, Physical
We like to say that digital is where the online
world of information and the physical world of
people meet. It’s an exciting place full of rapid
developments, fresh insights and rediscovered
values. It’s also a complex place: to understand
it you need to know about tons of things, from
smartphones to big data, from social media to
the semantic web.
We believe the digital world offers tremendous
opportunities for institutions working with heritage,
culture and the arts to connect with audiences
and achieve our missions. Yes, there are serious
challenges, but an institution that strategically
embraces the digital revolution will be better off.
The world has changed and it’s time to change
with it.
The digital world excites us. We also know,
however, it is not always easy for professionals and
organisations to figure out the best way to approach
digital and online media. That’s why we composed
this book. It summarises over 10 years of experience
working with institutions from all over the world.
The objective is to help you design and implement
successful and sustainable digital engagement
strategies that will make you and your organisation
thrive in the digital age. Good luck!
4
Digital media, social institutions
The discussion about digital media has changed a
lot in recent years. When Jim and Jasper met at the
first MuseumNext in Newcastle in 2009, the first
museum director was still to sign up for Twitter and
engage in conversation with the public on social
media. At the 2013 MuseumNext and CultureGeek
conferences, directors energetically engaged in
the discussion about the strategic implementation
of mobile devices. Much has changed, and for the
better if you ask us!
The biggest and most promising change we see in
cultural institutions is that digital media is inspiring
them to be more social. The audience is becoming
more than a customer, the institution more than a
provider of education and entertainment. Together,
all stakeholders work together to create something
truly worthwhile.
A social institution is an organisation that has
put in place all the strategies, technologies and
processes that are needed to systematically involve
all stakeholders to maximise co-created value. A
social institution understands that its audiences,
employees, friends, managers and trustees all work
together to achieve its mission and objectives. This
is often by using digital tools, but also over coffee in
your cafeteria.
Not all institutions active with digital media are
social institutions. Those who thrive in the digital
revolution have understood that ‘social’ is more than
a set of tools; it’s a way of working. In this book we
will help you design the strategies, technologies
and processes that you will have to put in place to
make your institution more social.
Bottom up, or top down?
Digital media have been praised for their potential
to create bottom-up change. Someone starts a
Twitter account and next thing you know a lifelong
dictator has been replaced. And yes, if you have
a good idea, good timing and a whole lot of luck,
magic can happen with digital media that moves up
through the ranks.
On the other hand, our institutions are often
hierarchical. Nothing happens without four
signatures and they take at least six weeks to obtain.
By then, the funny-serious response on that blog
post has lost its charm. But once you have the How to use this book
senior level buy-in for an idea, nothing can stop 1 A
 s a toolbox to design your organisation’s
you in unrolling the most ambitious of strategies. digital engagement strategy.
So, where does a digital engagement strategy start:
bottom up or top down? 2 As an instigator for a discussion with your
The answer, obviously, is both. It wouldn’t be fair to colleagues about more social institutions.
say you can do this without support from high-up (Pro tip: buy or print a physical copy and leave
in the organisation. Your director doesn’t have to it next to the coffee machine.)
understand the ins and outs of Instagram in order to
be successful digitally, though. All you need is the 3 A
 s inspiration for the design of an audience-
trust from higher ups that you will not make a mess centred project or campaign.
(and that you may even make some money and
new members).
4 As
 ammunition in your ongoing discussion with
Trust comes from knowing what you talk about and peers and colleagues about digital media.
having an answer to most questions. Trust comes
from making your boss enthusiastic with good
examples. Trust comes from having support from 5 As
 a tour behind the scenes of organisations
your colleagues. This book will help you with all of like yours. (This book is based on practice, not
this, so you can develop a digital strategy that starts theory, so all examples come from real life.)
bottom up, top down, left to right and any other
direction you want. 6 As
 the basis for an internal training programme
on modern communication, media and
technology.

7 A
 s a starting point for your own research
or theory about digital engagement.

5
Part B
The Digital Engagement Framework
A framework for digital engagement
The Digital Engagement Framework helps you to The Digital Engagement Framework (DEF) is based
design the strategies, processes and technologies on years of designing and implementing innovative
to systematically engage all stakeholders with your communication, marketing, audience development
institution in order to maximise the value you co- and new media strategies around the world.
create. As with any framework, it is a simplification
of the real world.

Reach

Guidelines
Channels
Metrics

Assets Audience

Engagement

Objectives Vision Trends

6
Asking the right questions
You need three things to develop a successful
digital engagement strategy. First, you’ll need
support of your team, their energy and enthusiasm,
which is why we like to use the Digital Engagement
Framework (DEF) in participatory design projects
(see part H).
You will also need creativity and project management
skills to turn the framework into fresh ideas and
action (we’ll help you with that as well.) Thirdly, you
need to ask and answer the right questions.
The DEF helps you ask the right people the right
questions at the right time. You could say that
developing a digital engagement strategy is mostly
Q&A. There are 10 different types of questions,
ranging from visionary to operational. We will talk
you through each type and show how others have
answered them.

Assets Reach • Where can you find your new audience

Assets are the valuable or
special things, people or
qualities you own or do.
We distinguish tangible
and intangible assets.
• What makes you
stand out?
• Why do people
choose you?
• What do you sell?
• What are your values?
• What can you give away?
• What experience
do you offer?
• How are you different
from your competitors?
Reach is about making a first connection with
new audiences or existing audiences for a
new activity or channel.
Metrics
Metrics help you measure
success and monitor progress
• What are your KPIs?
• What is success?
• How will you report?
Engagement
Engagement means developing the
relationship between you and your audience.
Only reached audiences will engage.
Audience
(online)?
• What communities are they part of?
• How do you relate to these communities? Audiences are the people
• Which assets can you offer your new you exist for, both those
audiences? you reach and those you
• How can you connect with them? don’t reach yet. We like to
make them specific.
• Who do you reach?
Channels Guidelines • Who visits you
frequently?
Channels are where you share your Guidelines tell you how we will work.
• Who have a formalised
content, reach and engage people. • What are your core values?
relationship with your
• Which technologies, media • Who is responsible for what? organisation?
and tools will you use? • How do you respond to • Who only knows
• What content will you share unexpected developments? about you?
• Who knows about you,
but doesn’t visit you?
• What can you offer your audience to • What new groups
stay interested? would you like to reach?
• How can you involve your audience in what you do? • What are the specifics
• How can you activate them to become of each group
an active advocate for your organisation?
• How can you work together to co-create value?
• How can you build your communities?

Objectives Vision Trends

Objectives are the measurable and specific things
you want to achieve with digital engagement
• What do you want to achieve with digital engagement?
• What are your organisation-wide goals and objectives?
• What do you need to achieve to make the entire
organisation more social?
Vision tells you what your future looks like
• Why does your organisation exist?
• How will your organisation be different in 15 years time
because of digital media?
• How will you make the world a better place?
• What will people say about you in the future?
Trends describe developments that affect your
organisation, its audiences, assets and vision.
• What are important developments in your industry,
locality, organisation and market segments
• What new technologies and media do you see coming?
• How will society be different in 5 years time?

7
The four building blocks of digital engagement
We like to group the questions of the Digital
Engagement Framework into four main building
blocks. There is no fixed order in which to address
them, although we like to start at the bottom and
work our way to the centre.
Each building block consists of one or more elements.
Each element asks one main question. All the
answers from all the elements from all the building
blocks together provide an outline for your digital
engagement strategy. Simplify this result and you’re
as good as done.

3.
Engagement strategies

2. 4. 2.
Technologies and processes
Assets and Assets and
audiences audiences

3.
Engagement strategies

1.
The organisational basis

8
Case Studies:
The Digital Engagement Framework in practice
Royal Ontario Museum,
Copyright Brennan Caverhill, www.caverhillphotography.com
Toronto, Canada
‘At the Royal Ontario Museum we were just
getting started on our digital strategy and I was
tasked with gathering resources, references and
eventually putting the document together. As I
was doing my research I came across the Digital
Engagement Framework (DEF) and thought it
was a fantastic tool to help organize our efforts,’
writes social media coordinator Ryan Dodge.
‘Working through the DEF has allowed me to
think about how to involve multiple people from
across the institution in this huge endeavour and
how best to structure a collaborative effort at
completing this task.’ Ryan has planned a thorough
process that includes workshops and discussions
and should result in a document that can be
circulated to staff and senior management.
He believes that, ‘A digital strategy is one of ‘Working through the DEF has
the most important documents an institution
should possess but it has to be in line with the allowed me to think about how
museum’s overall strategy, mission, and vision. to involve multiple people from
The DEF has helped me think about how this across the institution in this
document should fit within this but also how
it helps deliver on our goals to help connect
huge endeavour and how best
people to their world and to each other.’ to structure a collaborative
Thanks Ryan! effort at completing this task.’
Ryan Dodge,
Royal Ontario Museum

9
State Library New South Wales,
Sydney, Australia
The State Library of New South Wales is a
wonderfully energetic organisation flowing
with ambitious ideas. Late 2012 they organised
a workshop around the Digital Engagement
Framework in light of their Innovation Project,
which includes structured trials and experiments
with services such as Pinterest and partners such
as Wikipedia.
Mylee Joseph of the Innovation Project writes that,
‘In our environment, the concept of connecting
assets to audiences is particularly useful.’ The
library’s assets are diverse, including ‘collections
(physical and digital), physical spaces, exhibitions,
events, online services and staff expertise’ while the
library’s audiences are many and varied.
The DEF especially helps the library to describe
digital engagement plans for particular events
and campaigns, to communicate these plans to
internal stakeholders and decision makers, and to
share these plans with the external stakeholders
on projects. From where we are, their structured
approach, high energy and creativity makes the
library an example for others around the world.
Well done!
‘In our environment, the ideas of
connecting assets to audiences
is particularly useful.’
Mylee Joseph
The Innovation Project
The Loo Palace,
Apeldoorn, the Netherlands
Former royal palace, The Loo, which doubles as a
national museum and one of northern Europe’s most
beautiful gardens, recently had a change of director
and direction to reverse declining visitor numbers and
prepare the institution for success in the 21st century.
Amongst other developments, they completely
revamped their online strategy in a process based
around the Digital Engagement Framework.
At the palace, the DEF was used in a number of
workshops to bring together ideas from people
from all over the organisation. It helped them
describe potential and simple ways in which to
connect with new audiences, or build deeper
relationships with existing audiences. The work
resulted in an online strategy as well as operational
briefings for the developer of their new website,
CRM and other digital tools.
With the help of the ascension of a new king early
in 2013 and a series of well-planned exhibitions, The
Loo Palace is experiencing a successful year. Their
DEF-inspired online strategy is also showing its first
results, which we hope will prepare them for many
more years of high visitor counts!
CC By -JvL-
10
Example:
Digital engagement in a circus
As far as we know the Digital Engagement Framework has never been used by a circus, which
makes it safe for us to use as an example. Like many examples in this book this framework is not
necessarily exhaustive, but meant to show you how to use the DEF in different situations. Use it
to your benefit and please do scribble, doodle, scratch and highlight to make it look better!

Assets Reach • Connect with local bloggers to reach younger audience, Audience
offer behind-the-scenes and make option for a fancy night-out.
• Animals • Put shows up as ‘theatre’ in local listings Not Coming
• Tent • Pro-actively respond to mentions on other blogs: give • Young couples/
• Clowns groups of friends
feeling of contemporary organisation
• Open Trucks • Movie/Theatre
goers
• Few shows per
Tricky
location Metrics Channels Guidelines • Online audience
• MAGIC
• Ticket Sales • Facebook/ Tumblr • Animals first! uncertain/don’t
• Cheap tickets
• FB fans and engagement • Local community • Varied Shows come
on Mondays
• Mood of blogs, tweets, websites/blogs • Dialogue Coming
• Tradition mentions etc. • Listing sites • Traditions • Generation visitors
(parents and kids)
• Passers by (for the
animals)
Engagement • Create special online press events to generate
shareable online content. • Animal fans
• Invite school kids to photo sharing contest • school classes
• Build Facebook presence for when we return
after a year around the day to day of the circus

Objectives Vision Trends

• Sell 25% of tickets online We make circus a contemporary • Focus on animal welfare
• Create a more positive attitude towards alternative for a night out in • More (cheap) competition
us & circus in general the 21st Century. • We’re ‘old fashioned’
• Build a loyal following of 5000 people • Families have smaller budgets

11
Part C
The organisational basis
The organisational basis
The basis of any digital engagement strategy are
the elements ‘vision’, ‘objectives’ and ‘trends’ which
form the core building block, the foundation on
which you can build your strategy. These three
elements help you define the playing field and give
direction for all other things you will do with digital
media. For different reasons, we like to start any
process with these three elements (although you
don’t have to, if you really don’t want to!).
Your vision and objectives are usually internal affairs,
either set by senior management or the result of
discussion with your colleagues. Trends are defined
both internally and externally and require you to
look beyond the confines of your organisation.
Spend time on the foundation of your strategy
(that’s an order!). Check your assumptions,
interview colleagues and invite experts, involve your
visitors and read through all the documents your
organisation produces. Also, spy on the competition
and partner with universities and think-tanks to
make sure you are spot-on when it comes to setting
a bold vision, translating this into objectives and
recognising trends.
Urge and enthusiasm
Most people are reluctant to change. Fortunately! Enthusiasm is about wanting to change. It means
Imagine if your workspace was redesigned every your team pours their energy into anything that
day, procedures changed, the coffee machine works towards a better future. You will need
moved. Unfortunately, this means that when you this energy: in our experience it can take years
start a process that might change the way things for a digital engagement strategy to be fully
go, your colleagues might not be your best friends. implemented and successful. There are many
Two key words at the beginning of a (strategy ways to stir enthusiasm (one of them being your
development) process therefore are urge and personal ability to do so) and a nice starting point is
enthusiasm. Use your time and energy in the the vision of your digital engagement strategy. By
first place to make people understand (or better, envisioning a better future together, everybody on
discover together) the need to change now and the team will feel more involved in this future and
make them want to do it together. The elements start to realise their own role in helping to achieve it.
trends and vision are perfect to create urge and
enthusiasm.
Urge is about feeling the need to change. Trends
show changes in society, technology, politics and
elsewhere that have an impact on your organisation.
Talk about these changes with your team, invite
a trend-watcher to give a presentation about the
future and try to define what the changing world
means for you. If you do this well, your colleagues
will also understand why your organisation will have
to change.
12
Social leadership in the digital revolution
What kind of people develop and implement
successful digital engagement strategies?
Many of the professionals we’ve met that were
successful in turning their organisation into a more
digitally-savvy, social organisation share the same
characteristics. They’re ambitious in their goals but
humble in their team. They listen more than that they
talk. They work on building relations as much as on
delivering projects. They try new things, even if there’s
a risk of failure. They work hard but don’t complain.
There are many ways to label such professionals.
We like to call them ‘social leaders’: leaders who
understand that to be successful in the digital
revolution you need to apply social media best
practices to every area of your work:
• Don’t send information but engage
in dialogue.
• Know your audience, their ideas,
their fears.
• Implement systems for listening.
• Focus on service and making the
lives of others easier.
• Be responsive.
Social leaders are not appointed; they’re self-made.
Social leaders can be anywhere in the hierarchy. In
an institution in the transition to being more social,
they hold pivotal positions. They’re well connected,
but not necessarily online.
We believe anyone can be a social leader within
his or her institution. It’s all about realising the
same rules apply everywhere, such as that the
way to successfully engage your audience on
Twitter is the same as the way to get your team on
board, and vice versa.
While this book is about reaching and engaging
audiences through digital media, you can apply
its lessons to your own life to enhance your social
leadership skills (and really, to any aspect of running
your organisation).

13
Element 1:
Your digital vision
How will you change the The vision of your digital engagement strategy
tells you where all your digital efforts will lead
world with digital tools? you. Not today, not tomorrow, but one day in a
How do digital media alter better future (We like to look 3 to 5 years ahead).
your way of working? A vision is usually a bold statement. Your
organisation probably has an overall vision, which
What bold and daring vision of may go by another name (e.g. mission). This
the future do you have? overall vision may or may not include a mention of
digital, online or social media. It’s likely to include a
reference to either your assets or your audiences.
Regardless, your organisational vision is a good
place to start thinking about your digital vision.
A good vision gives both the direction in
which all your efforts lead you and the energy
to do so. It’s important to understand that it
doesn’t matter if you’ll ever achieve your vision.
What matters is what you do to achieve it.
So, what’s a good vision? It’s a short statement
your team knows by heart and can explain in
more or less the same way. Here are some visions
of world-renowned institutions, followed by how
they could be read as digital vision statements.

This includes the Australians who are physically (or

financially?) too remote from the physical place and
therefore can be reached digitally.

Sydney Opera House (mission 2013)

The Sydney Opera House embodies beauty, inspiration and the liberating
power of art and ideas. It is a masterpiece that belongs to all
Australians.
Everything we do will engage and inspire people through its excellence,
ambition and breadth. We will strengthen our central role in Australia’s
life and identity.
Didn’t we say a bold vision?

(Source: http://d16outft0soac8.cloudfront.net/
It doesn’t say where and it feels like it doesn’t
uploadedFiles/SOH_ENTERPRISESTRAT_A5_FA_ matter. This can be done digitally very well.
INTOUCH_RESUP_1.pdf)

14
Source: http://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-
papers/tate-digital-strategy-2013-15-digital-dimension-everything Tate doesn’t see digital as an isolated department.

Tate (Digital Version 2015)

Through embracing digital activity and skills across the organisation, Tate aims
to use digital platforms and channels to provide rich content for existing and
new audiences for art, to create and nurture an engaged arts community and
to maximise the associated revenue opportunities. We will achieve this by
embracing digital activity and developing digital skills across the organisation.. Making money! (Usually money is not part of a
vision as it is part of the DNA of organisations,
but for a not-for-profit like Tate this is a really
interesting gesture.)

This goes well beyond the walls of the institution.

It might not be the truth, yet, but it is an ambition.

The National Theatre London (Vision)

The National Theatre strives to be a national centre of theatrical arts, central to
the creative life of the country and unmatched in the world for scale, range of
repertoire and audience reach. Bold!

If you want to be unmatched in the world on

audience reach, you’ll have to be creative in
reaching audiences. This is a clear starting
point for a digital vision.
Source: http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/
discover-more/about-the-national-theatre

15
How to define your vision
Ask yourself: Your vision is the shortest possible summary of
how is the world different because of you? What will hundreds of exchanges with colleagues, the general
be lost to the world if you disappeared tomorrow public, funders, stakeholders and everybody else
(be honest)? What would you like to achieve if you involved about why your organisation exists. Try
could do anything? to get to the core. Why, why, why?
Your vision is always about bigger things than
“We need more visitors.”
your organisation, things bigger than today and
Why? bigger than the bottom-line. A vision is always a
“We need to keep our funders happy.” collaborative effort (but not necessarily democratic:
it needs an edge.)
Why?
“So our revenue sources don’t dry up.” Sit down with your team and draft a vision by
looking at the future and asking each other why. Test
Why?
your assumptions with your senior management,
“To be able to continue with our work and keep the influential stakeholders and both people that are your
venue open.” audience and those that are not. Keep on refining.
Why? Once your vision starts resonating with most of your
stakeholders, you’re close.
“People should be able to enjoy arts.”
Why?
“Because art makes our community stronger.”
So you’re strengthening your community
through art.

16
A vision of more social institutions A social institution is an organisation that has put in

CC By-SA Branden Kowitz

In 1997 James Heskett and others published the place all the strategies, technologies and processes that
book The Service Profit Chain. It describes why
some organisations consistently outperform others.
are needed to systematically engage all stakeholders to
What the authors found is that there is a strong maximise co-created value.
relationship between loyal and satisfied employees
and loyal and satisfied customers, which in turn
maximises the value an organisation generates.
The idea caught on with consultants around the
world and they started restructuring organisations
to strengthen the relationship between customers,
employees and value.
A couple of years later, social media started
reinforcing these ideas and broadening their scope.
Random employees became customer relations
workers on Twitter. Customers become employees
in crowdsourcing projects. Value is openly discussed
on platforms like Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com)
and Indiegogo (www.indiegogo.com).
The Service Profit Chain and the books it inspired
combined with social media create the foundations
for what is now often called a ‘social business’. A social
institution is the not-for-profit version of this idea.
In a social institution employees and the general
public work together to maximise the value the
institution generates. Every stakeholder makes his
or her unique contribution to the general good
and there is an honest value exchange between
individuals. Value in such an institution, by the way,
is seen as much broader than just money. Skilled & Systematically
enthusiastic engage your To co-create
We believe the future of culture, heritage and the
Employees Audience Value
arts lies in embracing the best practices of social
institutions. Such institutions are a hub for learning,
excitement, inspiration, fun! for all people and by all
people. They are audience-centred, participatory,
open, welcoming. A social institution understands
that all it needs is its audience and its employees.
which strengthens the organisation and thereby its employees
The rest comes from them. Digital media are an
essential tool in any social institution.

17 17
Element 2:
Objectives
Your digital vision is a bold statement for the Example objectives:
far future. Objectives translate this vision into
tangible outcomes on a short to middle term. • Create an online Q&A platform for • Increase the amount spent on
What, exactly, will you achieve with digital media? local heritage that weekly connects our website per visit to 0.20
Objectives should be specific enough to make 200 people from the region with Euros in one year’s time.
decisions about their success. Usually they 5 people on staff in 3 years time. • Connect with members from the
talk about increasing, growing or maintaining
something, whereas it is also possible to make it • Launch a new website in six months online DIY movement with 2 projects
your objective to start or stop doing something. that brings the organisation up-to- per year, reaching at least 10,000
Always make a distinction between objectives that speed on the latest developments. members with each project.
are meant to take you from 0 to 1 (e.g. starting
customer service on social media) and those that • Increase online ticket sales • Inspire at least 5 designers to
take you from 1 to infinity (e.g. growing your art by 15% each year. create new material with our
community or terminating your old mobile app). digitised classic posters.
Make sure there’s a balance between the two, so
it’s not all new stuff, but not all old stuff either.
For objectives we like to look at 3 to 5 year
periods and break them down into yearly steps. All
objectives lead to your vision. When it turns out to
be impossible (or too easy) to achieve an objective,
don’t be afraid to alter them in the process.
Your list of objectives can be virtually endless, but
we suggest you keep it concise: you’re going to
have to monitor and report on each objective!

18
Element 3:
Trends
A digital engagement strategy is never isolated
from developments outside of your organisation.
Populations change, Google and Apple launch new
products, the government updates its policies and
the 300-year-old tree across the street from your
venue suddenly blossoms twice a year (climate
change). We call these developments trends and its
crucial to recognise influential trends when you’re
working on your digital engagement strategy.
There are two types of trends:
sustainable trends which cause change but
do not disrupt your market or value networks*
and disruptive trends that create new markets
and value networks and occasionally replace
old systems (sorry music stores, travel
agencies). Obviously, sustainable trends
are more predictable than disruptive trends
and less shocking to your organisation
Trendwatchers are people trained to discover
trends that will impact your organisation, but if
you’re unable to afford one, keeping your eyes and
ears open is a good alternative. Visit conferences,
go to network sessions, read blogs and local
newspapers and follow some key reporters,
politicians and thought leaders on social media
to get a sense of where things are going.
Each trend poses either a challenge or an
opportunity for your organisation, and very often
both. If you’re facing a challenge (e.g. changes
in funding structures) try to find a corresponding
opportunity to turn it into something good for your
organisation (e.g. more direct relations with your
audience will allow for a new membership scheme).

* Value networks:
The internal and external networks of people, stuff and resources
that help you do business by moving tangible and intangible
value around. E.g. the funders that pay for your projects, but
also the providers that build them, the goodwill from local
government, the connection with a university for fresh ideas, etc.

19
How to recognise trends?
Some organisations always seem to be on top of
change, rather than lagging behind. They respond
to trends while they’re happening instead of after
they’ve happened. Research by the Industrial
Research Institute in 2012 that corresponds
with our experience in the field has shown such
organisations share a set of characteristics
CC By-SA Ted Eytan
• They institutionalise focused trend scouting
• They monitor a broad range of external factors
• They encourage internal sharing of ideas and
information.
• They regularly look at macro trends
• They have a global focus
• They network with external partners such as
universities, business and competitors
12 Disruptive trends according to McKinsey
1 Mobile internet (far more than just
another way to go online)
2 
Automation of knowledge work (think
computers answering the phone when you
call for directions and way, way beyond)
3  he internet of things (not just humans are
T developing structures the human mind
online; your fridge will be too, soon!)
4 
Cloud technology (access to everything you
might ever need, only when you need it)
5 Advanced robotics
(the end of physical labour)
6 
Autonomous and near autonomous vehicles
(and the end of driver’s licenses)
20
A good professional working with digital media does
all these things for his or her own field, following key
blogs, attending conferences and going to meet-
ups. Together with somebody who is more focused
on audience development and societal changes and
a colleague from finance, you have a good start of
a ‘trend team’, meeting monthly to discuss the early
beginnings of what could become mayor trends.
Give timely notice to your director and before
you know it, you’ll be on stage as an international
thought leader!
7 Next generation genomics
(our DNA as Lego)
8 Energy storage (never out of battery)
9 3D printing (easy and accessible production,
everywhere, but also algorithm based design,
cannot conceive)
10 Advanced materials (super strong or super light
or super cheap or ...)
11 Advanced oil and gas exploration and recovery
(it’s what makes the world go round, still...)
12 Renewable energy (...unless we manage to tap
into renewables on a grand scale
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/business_
technology/disruptive_technologies
Case Studies:
Responding to trends
The city as muse for
Museum Rotterdam
Museum Rotterdam has a long history of
participatory projects that break down the walls
of the museum and reconnect with actual life in
the city. In a long-term experimental project called
City as Muse the museum used anthropological
fieldwork practices such as participant observation
and in-depth interviews to unearth trends and
hidden stories in the city. In 2010, they worked
with a women’s group who lived and raised their
children in an area scheduled for demolition and
redevelopment. In 2011 the museum worked
with informal care givers throughout the city.
It only takes one look at Museum Rotterdam’s
Facebook wall to see the museum is connected
with the people of the city it serves, mostly
by listening and focusing on what is relevant
in the city. Even though the museum had to
leave its building because of budget cuts,
their presence is felt throughout the city.
(Read more in the CAMOC newsletter of
December 2012; http://camoc.icom.museum/
documents/CAMOCNewsletter2012_04.pdf)
Ageing populations?
Graffiti grannies!
Seniors and street art seem like an uncommon
combination. Fortunately the Finnish artist and
‘unruly art educator’ Veera Jalava thought differently
and when confronted with an ageing population
and the idea of graffiti workshops for seniors, she
decided to see where this combination could go.
What happens when grannies and graffiti meet?
What happened was the K65 crew. K for the
Finnish word for forbidden (kielletty) and 65
for the minimum age for participation in the
crew that dedicates its time to street art. K65
fights prejudices about elderly people and
street art, develops the ability of seniors to
read the urban environment and gives them
alternative options for participating in society.
The project went from Finland to Norway and
its success shows how challenges (negative
conceptions about street art with ageing
populations) can be turned into charming
projects. Thanks for the inspiration, Veera!
(Read more on this blog by Veera; http://
www.mustekala.info/node/3158)
Museum Rotterdam
21
Part D
Assets and audiences
The quality of your digital engagement
strategy depends on the quality of your
understanding of the key ingredients. Often
we see organisations taking a too narrow
or simplistic view of what they have to offer
and who they’re doing it for. The best ideas
come from broadening this view.
22
Assets and audiences: the key
ingredients of your strategy
Assets and audiences are the key ingredients of
your digital engagement strategy.
The main role of your engagement strategy and,
in fact, the raison d’être for many organisations, is
to bridge the gap between what you have to offer
(assets) and the people who might be interested
in this (audiences), meaningfully, if possible.
Yes, this is very much about marketing, but before
we dive into that loaded term in the next part of this
book, let’s spend some time on the two elements
that it’s all about.
Although assets and audiences are usually quite
easy to determine, it’s worthwhile investigating
them thoroughly. The quality of your digital
engagement strategy depends on the quality of
your understanding of the key ingredients. Often we
see organisations taking a too narrow or simplistic
view of what they have to offer and who they’re
doing it for. The best ideas come from broadening
this view.
If you play it smartly, you can even have your
audience help you determine your assets. Your
knowledge about your assets can be used to
connect with new audiences. Remember that in
a social institution, everything works together to
get the best possible results!
Element 4:
Assets
What makes you stand out?
Given the choice between you and anything Your assets are everything you have to reach
else, what do you have to offer to convince out to and connect with your audience. For
people to pick YOU? now, don’t worry about their potential. The
key is to find as much of them as possible.
Assets are all about your strengths and the
(As with cooking, if you have a choice of
worthwhile things you have or do.
ingredients, the final result will be better.)
Good coffee? Yes, that’s an asset. Clean toilets?
You can probably list quite some of your assets
Yes. Ten thousand hits to your website on some
easily. Check out your guestbook, the comments
obscure search word? Yes, that as well. Your great
on your website, the photos people share on social
colleagues? Even them.
media, see how you’re categorised on listing pages
Your assets are not just tangible things but - (e.g. ‘good burgers’) and eavesdrop on visitors to
importantly! - also intangible stuff like friendly find more assets you might not have thought of.
front desk staff, shelter from the rain, a night Small assets and big ones combined, we usually
out or the sense of being part of a community. easily find one hundred for each organisation.
Assets, also, are your products: tours, magazines, Go find yours!
productions, everything you are already doing.
Some of these things might have a second life
online, with more reach as an app or double
the impact when published as a blog.

23
What does your audience expect from you?
There’s often a discord between why we (the
professionals) think people come to our museums,
theatres and festivals and why they actually do (or
don’t).
For years, pundits and professionals alike have been
telling us the educational experience of culture,
heritage and the arts is a key reason for people to
visit. They want to learn. Discover identity, their
roots, reflect on important themes in life, find
meaning.
Interestingly, when you look at other research*, the
educational experience ranks well below mundane
issues such as parking, cleanliness and employee
courtesy in impact on the satisfaction of your
visiting audience.
So, your audience might come to learn, but in fact
they don’t really care?
Having been in hundreds of organisations over the
years, our only honest answer to the question of
why people visit (online and physically) is that we
can’t say for sure. It, well, depends.
It depends on whether you’re talking about local,
regional or international audiences, experienced
versus first time visitors, families or a lone
businessman (from experience we know they like
good coffee and free wifi), a school class or group
of friends, unemployed or CEOs.
It also depends on whether you’re a world renowned
opera house or local historical association, have
a restaurant or row of vending machines, sell out
regularly or don’t know what to do with your space.
That’s why it is essential to get all your assets down,
from the very first to the very last. You wouldn’t be
the first institution in the world to turn something
overlooked for years into a mayor draw for the
public.
* Colleen Dillenschneider: Entertainment vs. Education,
accessed 31 August 2013. http://colleendilen.com/2013/07/31/
entertainment-vs-education-how-your-audience-really-rates-the-
museum-experience-data/

CC By-NC CJ Buckwalter CC By-SA Benjamin Thompson

24
CC By-NC-SA J.S. Clark
From assets to content
Not all assets are immediately transferable to digital
media. They first need to be transformed into
content. ‘Content’ refers to photos, images, scans,
metadata, blog posts, videos, tags, audio files and
all other online representations of your assets. Turning
assets into content requires creativity and usually
some form of digitisation.
One asset can usually generate many pieces of
content, often in different formats. Also, not all
assets are best used for the content they generate:
sometimes their use is different as can be seen in
the examples below.
• Good coffee, apart from the occasional latte
art for your social networks, good coffee can
be turned into positive reviews on sites such
as Tripadvisor.
• Clean toilets mostly avoid content creation
(complaints). They can also be a place to
disseminate content, e.g. with a screen for
waiting visitors.
• Search engine traffic to a specific keyword helps
you distinguish popular content and can help you
improve all your other content.
• Friendly front desk staff are content generators.
Their anecdotes, experiences and the feedback
they receive can be turned into blogposts, videos
and updates.
• Shelter from the rain gives you a reason to be
listed on websites describing indoor activities. We’ve
also used this specific asset in Google advertising.
• A night out as an event is content for your social
networks and helps you get on listing websites.
25
CC By-NC Peter Kim
• The sense of community is something tricky to
translate into content, but think of photo galleries
of events, videos and interviews with visitors.
• Tours are one of our favourite starting places to find
social media content. Tour guides usually know the
best anecdotes and stories, which can be digitised.
A good tour itself tells a story, which can be made
available for download as PDF for people visiting on
their own or on Google Streetview.
• Magazines themselves are a collection of content.
When available digitally (and what magazine
content isn’t nowadays?) this content can be
shared elsewhere as well, maybe as a blog, a series
of newsletters or by linking to it from social media.
• Productions in the sense of plays, exhibitions,
lectures, concerts, etc. are one of your main
sources of content. Take pictures, make videos,
interview visitors and turn the press release into
lively social media updates.
Element 5:
Audiences
People
At the core of any digital engagement strategy
are people. We do what we do because we
want people to connect with culture, heritage
and/or the arts. We want people to discover,
have fun, learn, grow, think, participate, share
ideas. Regardless of what anyone might say:
without people our work would be worthless.
Not all people are automatically your audience,
though. And not all audiences are digital
audiences. Or will be, for that matter. To some
people, one of the great virtues of culture,
heritage and the arts is that they allow you to
break free from the digital chatter of daily life.
CC By-NC Amit Gupta
For your digital engagement strategy, we make
a distinction between the audiences you already
reach (digitally), and those you don’t. We like to say
that your strategy should spend an equal amount
of time, resources and energy on both groups.
Not all audiences are equally important for the
success of your digital engagement strategy. Your
vision or objectives might prioritise some audiences
and trends might impact your approach to others.
When talking about audiences, try to be as specific
as possible. Put a label on each group that is self-
explanatory. Local design students, dentists, seniors
with their grandchildren, dog owners, the police.
Group the small groups to make loose bigger ones:
dentists and the police are both professionals.
26
Online communities (1)
An online community is a group of people
that regularly come together around a shared
goal, shared interest or shared set of values.
Online communities exist everywhere, around
every imaginable topic, on all suitable platforms.
They can be large (thousands of members, such
as on the literary platform GoodReads) or really
small (such as the Facebook group for your
project team). They can be institutionalised or
anarchistic. They can be prosecuted or for-profit.
Most people with an internet connection
are either consciously or unconsciously a
member of one or more communities. And
so are the people in your audience.
Once you’ve defined the main groups that make
up your audience (both the audience you reach,
and the audience you don’t) we recommend you
to see how these groups might relate to online
communities. What are the shared goals, shared
interests and shared values of your audience?
Local design students want to become designers,
dentists are passionate about teeth (we hope)
and seniors with grandchildren value safety,
a comfortable place to sit and high-quality
service. (Of course, these are just examples.)
Thinking about your audience as a potential
member of an online community helps you to
develop meaningful digital activities for them.
It’s the first step towards making sense of
channels, activities and the processes leading
to a successful digital engagement strategy.
Things to know about 21st century audiences

17% mobile web traffic 30

(http://mashable.com/2013/08/20/mobile-web-traffic/) times an average
2.8 billion worker checks their
inbox, per hour!
people online in 2013
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
86% of all web traffic will (http://www.statisticbrain.com/
attention-span-statistics/)

be video by 2016
Global_Internet_usage)

(http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/collateral/ns341/ns525/ns537/ns705/ns827/white_
paper_c11-481360_ns827_Networking_Solutions_White_Paper.html)
28%
of words are read on
an average webpage
(ibidem)

1.22
83% 73% Trillion 8 seconds
£
the average attention
span in 2012 (4 seconds
of internet users have did so to save time in online sales in 2013
shorter than in 2000)
bought something online (http://www.statisticbrain.com/
(http://www.statisticbrain.com/ (ibidem) (http://www.internetretailer.com/2013/06/27/12- attention-span-statistics/)
total-online-sales/) trillion-global-payday-e-commerce)

57% of time spent on 5.6 hours per day spent

20%
of committed relationships
began online
(http://www.statisticbrain.com/
online-dating-statistics/)
2.5 Billion
Pieces of content shared on facebook per day
media is spent online with digital media
(https://www.globalwebindex.net/ (ibidem)
(http://www.internetretailer.com/2013/06/27/12-trillion-global-payday-e-commerce)
online-time-now-exceeds-offline-
media-consumption-globally/)

Where people mostly lie about 12.8 Billion 58% of Americans 62% of gamers play
age, height, weight, income play video games with others
Google searches per month (online or in-person)
and physical build (http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Press_Releases/2013/7/
(http://www.theesa.com/facts/ (ibidem)
(ibidem) comScore_Releases_June_2013_U.S._Search_Engine_Rankings)
pdfs/ESA_EF_2013.pdf)

In summary: Yes, audiences are digitally active, spend money and are social online,
but the competition for their eyeballs is fierce. Nothing comes for free online!

27
Using digital tools to research
your assets and audience
In the ideal world you have all the time and
resources to thoroughly research your audience
and assets. In the digital world, you can use
simple tricks to get a quick insight:

CC By-NC-SA David Haasser

1 Read through your reviews on Tripadvisor,
Yelp and other reviewing platforms. What
kind of people write the reviews? What did
they expect beforehand? What did they
appreciate about you?
5 Install a short (preferably 1 question) and non
intrusive questionnaire on your website that polls
people why they visit in week one, who they
are in the second, their location in the third and
whatever else you want to know in later weeks.

2 Use
 Google’s advanced search to see who links
to your website. What do these websites say
about you? What is their audience? How do they
categorise you? (Use tools such as Alexa to get
to know a little bit about the external website.)
3 C
 heck your website’s statistics: which search
terms in the long tail lead people to your website
(look beyond the top-10)? If you have an internal
search engine: what are people searching for
(and thus expecting to find) on your website?
6 Do keyword research using free tools such
as Google Trends and see how popular your
perceived main assets are online. Which ones
have most potential?
7 Check reputation management services like
Klout and Kred to get an insight into your social
media status. How do others perceive you?
What categories are you influential in? Does this
match how you want to be seen?

4 Click
 on the ‘likes’ icon on your competitors’
Facebook pages and consider the demographics
of their fans. How do you compare to them
(older or younger, more local or international, etc.)?

28
Part E
Digital engagement strategies
Reach and engage
It is time to turn the careful research of your assets
and audiences and your thoughtful ideas about Engagement is about
your organisation’s future and the trends that
influence it into action. It is time for you to design strengthening existing
the actual digital activities that will help you relationships and entering
achieve your objectives.
into a value exchange with
It is time to reach and engage your audience.
your audience.
The elements ‘reach’ and ‘engage’ in the Digital
Engagement Framework are a continuum (as you
will discover shortly). You need to reach people
before you can engage them and you need to
engage people before they can help you generate
value. We make the distinction because activities
focused on reach tend to happen away from your
organisation’s channels, whereas engagement
often happens on your own channels.
Reach is about reaching out, connecting with
new audiences.
Engagement is about strengthening existing
relationships and entering into a value exchange
with your audience.
Together, reach and engagement describe how
your digital engagement strategy connects your
assets with your audiences in order to achieve
your bold vision of the future.

CC By-NC-SA Exploratorium

29
Phases of engagement, from reached to activated

Reach Interest Involve Activate

The phases of engagement

The development of your audience from occasional
passers-by into highly enthusiastic advocates always
follows the same phases. First, people are reached
by your organisation. With some effort from your
side, they might become interested in you. Building
on their interest, you can involve them. The involved
audience, finally, is close to being activated to help
you create more value for more people. Seeing this
development as different phases, each of which
requires a different approach from your side, greatly
helps you design smart digital media activities.

Pro-tip: plot your existing audiences on the phases

of engagement. What would be the next step for
the different audience groups you distinguish?
Can you put names on some of the people that
are already activated?
CC By VVBAD

30
Conversion Conversion from one phase to the next.
Your digital engagement activities will focus
Find your audience Provide great content Invite to participate Acknowledge contributions
on converting audiences from one phase of
Determine their channels Be reliable Inspire Action Empower your audience
engagement to the next. You will have to do
Actively approach them Keep delivering Facilitate Connections Follow Up
this all the time, as every person develops at
his or her own pace through the phases, and
at any given time there will be people in each
phase of development.
Not all people you reach will one day become Reach Interest Involve Activate
activated. As a rule of the thumb we say you
will convert 10% of people to the next phase,
meaning that out of every 1,000 people you
reach, 1 will eventually become activated. Well-
1000 100 10 1
designed activities aimed at niche audiences can
generate much higher conversion rates, generic
newspaper advertisements will fare much worse.

31
Assets, audiences and engagement CC By-SA Marcel Oosterwijk

The red thread through the different phases of

engagement are your assets (obviously). Digital
content (blogposts, videos, polls, infographics)
are the translation of an asset into something
you and your audience can work with in the
digital realm. Content, therefore, plays a key
role in each phase of engagement.
Passively, content lets people discover you
(SEO) or you use it actively in advertising to
reach your audience (which creates new
content: advertisements).
It is your content, the quality of it and the rhythm
in which you publish that interests people.
Content (the digital translation of your
People will be involved with each other and
your content.
asset) helps to stimulate engagement.
You need to activate your advocates with the
right content to help them do their work (e.g.
give bloggers access to high quality images).
The ability to creatively turn an asset into content
Content
that resonates with your audience might be one
of the key characteristics of a successful digital
media practitioner.
Use your content Deliver high-quality Provide ‘conversation Give content to
to flirt with well-timed and pieces’: content bloggers (etc.)
your audience relevant quality people connect with and open up your
(SEO. advertising) around the world own content.

Reach Interest Involve Activate

32
Case Studies:
Structured engagement in action
Statistics from the Democracy
project showed that from the
nearly 15.000 people it initially
interested, nearly 12% became
involved of whom 17% became
activated and added value
by contributing artworks.
Create Democracy
In 2009 Sumo designed a participatory and online
exhibition called Democracy. The idea was to
democratically select the best design inspired
by the theme ‘democracy’. Designers and artists
used posters, illustrations, cartoons and many
other ways to show their ideas and participate,
but that was not all. In the democratic nature of
the project, the general audience was encouraged
to vote for and comment on contributions.
The project reached its initial participants
through the social media and personal networks
of the organisers, as well as through limited
marketing efforts. It then interested the audience
with a selection of thought-provoking and
often nicely designed works about democracy.
The democratic nature of the project invited
interested visitors to participate, and to
share their experience on social media.
Statistics from the Democracy project showed that
from the nearly 15.000 people it initially interested,
nearly 12% became involved of whom 17% became
activated and added value by contributing artworks.
33
Public architecture
What are the possibilities for public architecture?
This question was at the core of an online campaign
around the launch of a book by the Museum of
National History of the Netherlands in 2010. In the
book and on specialist websites, people with an
interest in architecture were invited to share their
thoughts and best practices on a dedicated website.
To trigger the audience to engage with the project,
the website provided examples of good public
architecture from all over the world and opinion
pieces that were meant to provoke discussion.
Selected bloggers were actively pursued to cover
the discussion and project on their blogs.
Of all the people reached with the project, 26%
became interested in the project at one moment
or another and of them 18% became involved,
starting discussions and contributing thoughts.
A handful of people (12%) were activated and
took the discussion to their own platforms,
fitting perfectly with the expected conversion.
If you’re interested in discovering
how we measure reach, interest and
involvement, please refer to section F.
Online Communities (2)
The phases of engagement do not only show the
development of an individual from a digital passer-
by to an enthusiastic advocate for your institution. It
also gives insight in the make-up and development
of online communities.
Remember that an online community is a group
of people who regularly come together around a
shared goal, shared interest or shared set of values.
When they come together, however, they do not all
take on the same role.
In any community some members will take on
the role of leading activist, stirring conversations,
inviting others to join the community, keeping the
rules and maintaining the community’s integrity.
In your community, you are most likely the leading
enthusiast. Other members will contribute, post
content, debate, answer questions. Still other
members will mostly consume content. If the
community is openly accessible, most people
will merely bounce by every now and then. This
is the difference between activated, involved,
interested and reached.
CC By-NC-SA Spelio
Understanding the dynamics of online communities
and the development of audiences will help you
focus on what is necessary to reach your objectives.
If you’re planning to build a local art community,
who will take the leading, activated role? (The easy
answer: you will, so plan your time accordingly.)
Who will provide the content? (Again: you, but
with help of a team of engaged members.) What
content? (This is related to the shared goal,
interest or value of the planned community.)
Online communities take time to develop. If you’ve
found a niche without too much competition, expect
to need at least six months (and much more for the
community to become healthy).
When planning an online community, at least have
a clear idea about who will be the leading activist
and a plan to connect with them, the shared goal,
interest or value that will give the community a
reason to come together regularly and the content
you need to build the community.
CC By-SA Guian Bolisay
34
Case Studies:
Online communities
Foodies, chefs and
an Italian museum
The staff at the Museo d’Arte Moderna e
Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto in
northern Italy, like all good Italians, have a
passion for good food. Their archives contain
food-related objects and they often organise
photo-friendly Mart Cooking events in which
a famous chef prepares food inspired by the
institution. And, as all Instagram and Pinterest
users know: food works well in the digital age.
Early in 2013 the museum started a first experiment
with building a community of food lovers with
the apt name Progetto Cibo, or ‘Project Food’.
The asset they focused on most were the food
related posters, magazines and other objects in
their archives, which they published with well
written comments on a special Tumblr blog.
Project Food was an experiment, but after
consistently publishing content for some time,
more and more people started visiting the
blog, sharing its content and interacting with
the museum. When such early beginnings are
reinforced with real life events and - later on -
a call for engagement, a strong community
will be built.
Shared interest:
food.
Leading activist:
the museum’s archivist.
Content:
archival images related to food.
Conscious about culture CC By-NC-SA Mart Museum
Young people and new audiences need to
learn to appreciate culture. It’s an often heard
statement by policy makers, pundits and
professionals. Young people should be forcefully
introduced to art, culture and heritage and
after a while they will enjoy it themselves.
A lot changes when you reverse this thinking. Over
the past few years the Dutch weblog CultuurBewust
(Conscious Culture) is proving that young people
do appreciate culture, films, art, theatre, music,
everything. What young people need is somebody
to tell them about it in their own voice, honestly,
and with room for surprising twists and uncommon
views. CultuurBewust does this with reviews written
by young reporters who approach topics without
the preconceptions of the established cultural elite.
In a short time the weblog managed to build
a loyal following of thousands of people and
not all of them are really young. Their fresh no-
nonsense approach to reviews opens up the
sometimes inaccessible world of culture, art and
heritage to a general, inexperienced audience.
Shared interest:
discover culture.
Leading activist:
young reporters.
Content:
reviews.
35
Element 6:
Reaching new audiences
Digital engagement activities, part 1 CC By-NC-SA Paul Mayne

Everything starts with reaching your audience.

For decades marketers have used a wide range
of tools to get people to know about something,
remember it and maybe, please, try it at least once.
We call this all-important first contact between
you and somebody in your audience ‘reach’.
Activities aimed at reaching new audiences are
the first part of your digital engagement activities.
It’s not just entirely new audiences you need to
reach, though. Your organisation’s name may be
known to your audience, but if they never come
or have a completely mistaken perception of what
you do, you will need to reach them again. If it
has been years since they visited you, you will
have to reach them anew. And for your digital
engagement strategy, you will have to digitally
reach even the most loyal visitor if she/he has never
interacted with you outside of the physical realm.
At the same time you’re likely to accidentally reach
audiences digitally you would never have reached
physically, for instance through search engines.
Reaching your audience starts with knowing
your audience and understanding them.
Reach, to us, is not a metric. ‘We reached 200k
people online last month!’ Reach is the beginning
of engagement and it is engagement that
matters in the end. Reach can often be bought,
whereas you need to earn engagement.
That said, without reach, there can
follow no engagement.

36
Audience mapping and reach
Invite your colleagues around a big piece of paper or
School Kids
a whiteboard with some markers.
Young explorers
1 Write down your organisation’s name at the centre of the
paper and draw a big circle around it, almost touching the 8-12 year olds 12-16 year olds
edges of the paper. Young families

2 Equally spread out your main audience groups around the Art historians Parents w/ child
edge of the big circle. ‘Professionals’, ‘families’, ‘tourists’.
Write down the names of each main group’s subgroups 2
slightly closer to the centre of the circle.
Local Students

3 For each subgroup, write down their main goal, interest or

values as separate topics still closer to the centre of the
circle. If different subgroups have similar goals, interests Theatre Students
or values simply connect them with lines.

4 For each goal, interest or value: where do the members

of the subgroup go at the moment to answer to their Design Students
need to be connected? Be specific: write down names
of platforms, locations, competitors, etc. This is a lot of 4 “I can call the editor
work and it might mean you need to break out in groups 3 freewifi.blogspot.com for a review”
researching the subgroups online.
Creative work places 1
4a If you really, really, really cannot find an existing platform Bloggers “US”
“We can buy a
or location, describe what it should be like (‘a weblogs
featured article”
listing day trips in the region’) and clearly mark it. This
could be an opportunity for you to offer a service or build
a community. Copy Writers coffee.tumblr.com 5
“Lets use our content
5 Then, connect your organisation with each of the Good Coffee to start a board.”
platforms and locations. How are you related to these Artists 4a
platforms? For instance:
Pinterest
Do you (or any of your colleagues) know the editor of Design Boards
baristas
the platform and/or can you get to know him/her, e.g.
Freelancers Inspiration
by putting him/her on the press list for your next event? Actors
Can you join the community and become a trusted Designers Writers
member?
Dancers
Can you pay to connect with the audience of the platform
or location (content marketing, advertisements, etc.)?
Creatives
Can you add value to the platform with your unique
knowledge and experience?

37
Connecting through your assets CC By-NC-SA Myles Grant

Broadly speaking, there are two types of

connections between your organisation and the
platforms where your audience can be found:
• Personal connections
• Content connections
Personal connections are straightforward. Because
you know the editor/owner/curator of a platform you
can get your message on the platform. A personal
connection is also when you build a presence on
a platform and become a trusted member. (You
yourself are the personal connection.)
Content connections are based on the idea that
most digital media platforms are in a constant
struggle to produce relevant high-quality content
for their audiences. When connecting with
platforms and reaching their audience, this is your
foot between the door: you have the assets that
provide them with content.
CC By-NC-SA John Thurm
The simplest content you can offer is a relevant (and
preferably, slightly personalised) press release with
high quality imagery. Exclusive content, previews,
behind-the-scenes and all the traditional PR tricks
are other types of content you can offer.
Better still, use your assets in a long-running Q&A
with a platform. Imagine they write about a topic
you also know about and can use your assets to
add valuable content in the comments. This directly
reaches the people who read the comments and
indirectly builds your standing and reputation in the
community. Do this consistently for a longer time
and your reach grows.
To discover your options, go back to your audience
map and put potential assets to each connection
going from your organisation to platforms.

38
Case Studies:
Mapping the playing field for a festival
Performers, visitors and opinion makers Performers
In 2012 we helped a new performing arts festival
Singer Songwriters
map their audience and come up with a strategy
to connect with them. The image on this page is Bands Dancers
a simplified and generalised version of what we
did for them, which shows how audience mapping
Theatre groups Festival Die-Hards
for your digital engagement strategy might work
out for your organisation. (The actual map was the
Line-up
size of a reasonably sized whiteboard, which is not
uncommon when we do this work.)
Painters
Locals

Fun pastime
Illustrators Festival “Team up with “Provide performers
local competitors” with HD images”
Performers’
websites; portfolio
Dance
sites; myspace; last.
lovers
Newspapers fm; youtube; art
“Add to listings” Guardian cult. Performing arts
school websites
supplement & blogs; & forums; local
“Provide w/ Telegraph cult. pages; competitions;... Theatre
scoop” what’s onstage; listings
Television lovers
(festival info, last.fm,etc.) “Live” experience
“Press preview”
BBC; local news
stations;...
Power Tweeps
Music
Music
Being w/ friends lovers

Celebrities Something to do Performers

Opinion Makers Visitors
Fans of
Young families
performers
Students

39
Element 7:
Engaging audiences
Digital engagement activities, part 2
Once you’ve reached an audience (actively or
passively) it’s time to develop your relationship
with them. Why?
Only engaged audiences enter into a value relationship
with your organisation. This means they might buy
a ticket, but also contribute their thoughts, make a
donation, invite their friends, come back regularly,
become a (digital) volunteer, etc.
An engaged audience participates with your
organisation. Participation lies at the heart of social
media, web 2.0, crowdfunding, co-creation and a
ton of other buzzwords of the digital revolution.
‘Maximise co-created value.’ That’s why.
Engagement forms the next three phases in the
model: Interest, involve and activate. Remember
that with reach, engagement forms a continuum
and that each individual member in your audiences
moves through the phases at his or her own pace.
Each successful digital engagement activity
combines reach and engagement, but has a
primary focus on one or the other.
Engagement always happens with or because of an
asset. People respond to a specific production or
discuss a project around a cup of coffee in your café.
Engagement is hard work. It can take months to
achieve, but when it works it gives an adrenaline
rush, wonderful!
Strategies to interest people CC By-SA Kennisland
Plainly put, your audience becomes interested
when they cannot resist you or your asset. They
keep returning to get more. You’ve got them
hooked. (Well done!)
You create interest by creating a consistent high-
quality offer based on an asset that resonates with
the audience you’re trying to get to.
Consistent means that you can keep the offer up for
quite some time (at least the time of the activity).
This means you have enough high-quality content
to share with your audience to stay front-of-mind
without them opting out.
• An expert blog with in-depth information.
• A newsletter with exclusive content.
• A puzzle or quest based on interaction
with your asset. CC By-NC-SA Mart Museum
• A social media channel with audience
contributions.
• An ongoing behind-the-scenes video series.
High-quality means the offer resonates with your
audience: it helps them achieve a goal they might
have, answers to their interests and fits their values.
Text is written in their voice, images are worth
looking at, videos are well edited.
An interested audience returns regularly to your
website, subscribes to your newsletter, reads your
social media updates and watches your videos.
They’re might be waiting to be involved, if only...
40
 Involve: invite, inspire, facilitate
The step from interested to involved is
achieved by inviting, inspiring and facilitating
your audience to participate.
Inviting means to ask people to participate and get
involved. Ask a question, fill in the blanks or request
a photo upload. An invitation is always explicit.
Inspiring means challenging people to get involved,
for instance by posting thought-provoking content,
triggering lively discussions and encouraging
participation.
Facilitating means to make it possible for people
to participate and be involved. This means
technologically, but also because you’re open
and accessible and understand the different
needs of your different audiences.
The three actions combined often form the
core of a digital media activity and its main
focus. The conversion from interested to
involved is a meaningful one to measure.
CC By-NC-SA Macattck CC By-SA Paul Stein
41
Activate your enthusiasts
The pinnacle of any digital engagement strategy,
if you ask us, is when some individuals in your
audience become highly enthusiastic advocates for
an organisation. And yes, this does happen. In fact,
it happens quite often.
Once your audience is involved, the last thing you
need to do to reach digital engagement valhalla is
activate them to become enthusiasts. This means
you’re giving a little bit of control away so they can
share your story, spread their enthusiasm and share
in your success.
Activating starts with thanking people for
participation, even overdoing it a little bit. It also
means you need to facilitate the people who want
to talk about you (e.g. allow for easy high quality
downloads of your press photos) and allow them to
share you with their friends.
Activating your audience is fun. Your ideas can go
viral when normal members of the audience start
sharing your organisation with the world. Digital
media are designed to make this happen. It’s up to
you to unleash this potential.
CC By-NC-SA Clint McMahon
Case Study:
Stimulating return visits with digital tools
Visitors as museum ambassadors
at Museum Naturalis
In 2013, Naturalis in the Netherlands asked Rui Guerra
of INTK to do a number of experiments to increase
their number of visitors. Rui quickly understood
that the fastest way to achieve this was by having
the existing visitors do most of the work and he
embarked on a series of successful projects. Using
the social web and digital tools he activated and
empowered visitors to invite others to visit Naturalis.
In the most charming experiment, visitors are
encouraged to take a picture of themselves,
replacing their own head partly with that of an
animal. The picture is a discount coupon, which
visitors can easily share on their own Facebook,
Twitter or other channels using their own digital
cameras or smartphones and the museum’s free
wifi. Well placed text invites the friends and family
of the visitor to buy a discounted ticket for Naturalis.
The experiment involves visitors by allowing
them to share a positive experience in a funny
way and activates them to do so with a well-lit
and recognisable photo opportunity, free wifi
and a real benefit for sharing (discount).
Good one, Rui and Naturalis!

CC By Esther Herberts

42
Co-created value
By carefully designing and implementing the right
strategies, processes and technologies, a social
institution can engage all stakeholders to maximise
its co-created value. Co-created value implies that
an organisation can generate more value when
working together with all relevant stakeholders
(including its audience!) than when it is on its own.
At first, this sounds counter-intuitive. Why should
others work together with you, aren’t they already
paying you (in money, time or kind) to deliver a
service?
Co-creating value, however, means that you
understand and recognise the value others already
add to your institution and maximise their ability
to do so. A complaint by a visitor is a free audit, a
positive review on Tripadvisor or a birthday party an
act of PR, liking your Facebook page a desire for a
more profound relationship with your organisation.
Value, value, value, created not exclusively by you,
but together with your audience.
CC By-SA ColaBoraBora
A well-designed activity for co-creating value
can go beyond this. Crowdsourcing and
crowdfunding projects are examples where
institutions and stakeholders work together
to generate value. Your institution does what
it does best, and the audience shines in their role.
In our experience, an act of co-creation requires
at least an involved audience and preferably an
activated and enthusiastic audience, especially
when you’re talking about funding. (Remember
it’s co-created value, so you both need to add!)
On the other hand, whenever a stakeholder adds
value (and this includes complaints!), he or she
can be considered to at least be involved with
your organisation. Turning a complaint around into
enthusiasm can be easier than creating enthusiasm
from scratch, if you have the right strategies and
processes in place to do so.
Co-created value is a magical, wonderful thing.
It’s the result of a successful and thorough change
process towards a more social institution, not
merely the objective of a single digital activity.
Co-creating value is not easy, but when it starts
working on a larger scale it is worth all the trouble.
CC By-SA David Dugdale
43
Case Study:
How one museum raised almost 100,000 Euros
Successful crowdfunding
at Palazzo Madama
When the Palazzo Madama in Turin had the unique
opportunity to buy the Servizio D’Azeglio, a rare set
of earthenware, they faced a considerable challenge.
First of all, the small museum and its team did not
have the 80,000 Euros they needed for the sale.
And secondly, they didn’t have time to raise it in the
traditional way. So, faced with the risk of seeing the
city’s heritage disappear into the hands of a private
collector, they decided to do something new and
audacious: raise the money by asking everybody.
Based on the DEF, the team at Palazzo Madama
set up a crowdfunding campaign aimed at a local
audience and heavily supported with social media.
They set up a specialist website where people
could contribute funds, as well as an old-fashioned
donation box in the palace.
CC By Fluvio Spada
With help of the local audience and support by Another surprising outcome of the project was
the media, the palace raised over 96,000 Euros that there was a direct link between the number of
in a two month period. Most of the money was donations on any given day, and the amount of buzz
collected online (89,000 Euros). 1,590 people made the project generated on digital media. More tweets
a contribution, most of them between 10 and 25 and likes directly resulted in more donations.
Euros although there were outliers contributing
Crowdfunding is a popular, but difficult engagement
more than 1,000 Euros!
strategy. For every success story there are many
In exchange for their contribution people received a failed attempts. Fortunately for the Palazzo Madama,
simple mention in the list of donors on the website their thorough planning and enthusiastic approach
and in the museum on the label of the Servizio has paid off nicely. Congratulations!
d’Azeglio, free tickets for the Palazzo Madama or
* If your Italian is up to it, see this link for more stats
even an invitation to a special event. The exchange
http://www.slideshare.net/carlottamargarone/acquista-
of value was clear, but it was obvious that people
con-noi-un-pezzo-di-storia-per-to-crowd
participated mostly for more subtle reasons than
tickets or recognition. 56% said they contributed to
save a unique piece of content and 53% because
they enjoyed participating in a collaborative project*.
Sabina Arena, Fondazione Torino Musei
44
CC By-SA Thomas Angermann Fans, friends and members
Engagement is about structuring and developing
the relationship between an individual and your
organisation. Each next step in the phases of
engagement makes the relationship more profound.
If you plan the development of your audience well,
you can have it coincide with a traditional tool
your institution probably already has to formalise
relations between individuals and organisations:
the membership scheme.
Of course being a Facebook fan is easier than
paying an annual fee to be an official member,
but the mechanics aren’t much different. Both
are about a value exchange between individuals
and the organisation. A ‘like’ in return for great
content, a subscription for easy access, magazines
and other perks.
This means that your membership scheme should
be part of the discussion about digital engagement:
how do the two strategies align? When will you
CC By-NC-SA Ben
encourage your digital audience to become
members? What are the benefits associated with
liking your Facebook page?
We highly encourage you to treat all your audiences
equally and see their development as an ongoing
process. Maybe an online visitor will need to
become an enthusiast before her first visit, and
then slowly be encouraged to become a member.
It may take years, but one day she will make a huge
donation, if only you plan and design accordingly.

45
Part F
Organising engagement
The organisational basis
The last pieces of the digital engagement puzzle
are the most operational elements in the framework:
metrics, guidelines and channels.
This is about what you (and your colleagues) will
actually do to make digital engagement happen
(and how you will demonstrate that it has happened).

• Metrics, or how will you monitor progress?

• Guidelines, or how will you work?
• Channels, or what tools will you use?

These elements translate your ideas about reaching

and engaging your audiences into a basic set of
processes and technologies that you need in order
to do so. It’s time to make things happen!

46
Element 8:
Metrics
Monitoring progress,
measuring success
Metrics are extremely exciting. No really, they are!
Metrics help you prove your ideas are working or
adjust them in time if they don’t. Metrics convince
critics and build cases. When applied rightly,
metrics can help you make informed decisions.
However, metrics can also be a risk. We always
say that you shouldn’t measure because you can
and stop there, but you should measure smartly
in order to make decisions and monitor progress.
Metrics without action only give you a false sense
of security. If you use metrics just to show numbers,
you would be better not to use them at all.
Use metrics to measure one of three things:
1. Progress on any of your objectives.
2. The development of your audiences from
reached to activated.
3. The impact of digital on your institution.
Each objective you’ve defined in the Digital
Engagement Framework comes with at least
one metric.
Create regular moments to discuss the outcome of
what you measure with your team and director, so
you can act if you’re either not reaching objectives,
or the development of your audience disappoints.
Quantity, quality and telling Measuring engagement
a convincing story
Measuring engagement is different for every
We distinguish three types of metrics: digital engagement activity and the metrics
will be different as well. In this example possible
Quantitative metrics measure facts: number of metrics are given for each phase. Often the
visitors, visits, page views, time per visit, pages reach (etc.) of a project will be measured with
per visit, fans, followers, mentions, likes, shares, a combination of metrics. Be strict and be
number of sales, revenue ... consistent: What matters is not showing huge
numbers to your boss, but making sense of the
Quantitative metrics can be easily measured success of your digital activities in the long run.
with the right tools.
Qualitative metrics tell something about the
impact of what you do: conversion rates, click Twitter followers
Facebook Reach
through on newsletters, percentage of visitors 1 Reach Website visitors
that spend at least 5 minutes on your website, Views on Youtube
loyalty, mood of the comments Qualitative Newsletter subscribers
metrics are harder to measure and require
specialist tools or your time.
Retweets
Facebook likes
Anecdotes are not metrics per se, but give 10 Interest Loyal website visitors
convincing examples of what you’re trying to Subscribers on Youtube
achieve. An activated Facebook fan who starts Newsletter clicks
blogging about you, an rare connection with an
outside community, a reply by an influential blogger,
to gather anecdotes you will have to monitor all Replies on Twitter
Facebook comments
digital activities well and be able to discover outliers. 100 Involve Contributions
Video responses
Quantitative and qualitative metrics help you to Replies and forwards
monitor progress, make informed decisions and
allocate resources. Anecdotes help you to convince
critics, encourage your team, inspire others and ‘Follow Fridays’
Shares & mentions
generally create an optimistic feeling about your 1000 Activate Blog posts about you
institution’s digital engagement strategy. Non-commissioned virals
Content contributions
47
Element 9:
Guidelines
Values and actions
Guidelines decide the day-to-day of your
organisation’s digital activities in simple rules
like the ‘if-this-then-that’ rules of a computer.
What to do when a visitor asks a question
on social media? And what if it’s impolite?
Who creates the content for the next
campaign? And who checks the spelling?
When does your director get the latest
stats? And in which format?
Guidelines make the processes you need to
succeed on digital media tangible and describe
preferred behaviour. Guidelines should be based
on your organisation’s values and fit the ways
you usually work.
The simplest form of guidelines is a document
with straightforward rules that are understood
by everyone. Quite often this is enough to cover
most of the situations and only specific projects
will need additional guidelines.
Example guidelines
1 We always speak and write in a personal
tone online. Good guidelines:
• Help decide on content.
2 We share as much as we can, but never talk
about money or partners. • Enable everyone to participate.
• Clearly define who does what.
3 Four eyes on every outgoing piece of content.
• Encourage engagement.
4 Only the head of communication can • Help avoid mistakes.
pull content offline.
5 Every online question gets an answer
within 8 hours.
6 Every external email is responded to
within 24 hours.
7 When we discover a relevant online
discussion, we tell each other.
8 When online discussions get emotional,
we rather continue them offline.
9 Everyone is responsible for building
best practices.
10 We use common sense in everything we do.
48
Element 10:
Channels and content
Every strategy boils down to doing things CC By-NC Thomas Hawk
A digital engagement strategy is all about posting
the right content on the right channels (plus a
gazillion derivative activities!).
Channels are the combination of media and
technologies that you need to make your digital
activities happen. No matter how ambitious your
vision and diverse the strategies to reach and
engage people, we recommend you to keep the
number of channels you actively maintain at any
given moment limited. Each channel takes time
and resources to keep up, two things that usually
have very real limits.
Ending your strategy development process with
the element channels therefore functions as a reality
check for your entire strategy: can we do what we
want to do with the time and resources we have?
Channels can also be the start of your strategy, with Channels are the combination
one enthusiastic colleague opening a social media
account and experimenting with digital engagement. of media and technologies that
Whether it’s the conclusion or the beginning of you need to make your digital
your digital engagement strategy, channels and activities happen. No matter how
the content they require are the very heart of
ambitious your vision and diverse
anything you do digitally. Do them well.
the strategies to reach and engage
people, we recommend you to
keep the number of channels you
actively maintain at any given
moment limited.

49
Choosing your channels Channel Objective Audience Content
One channel = one main objective =
one primary audience. For example:
Website Inform potential visitors People who have Opening hours, location,
decided to visit ticket sales, calendar

Mobile website Inform visitors on site, People who have Opening hours, location,
sell tickets decided to visit ticket sales.

Newsletter Inform loyal audience Loyal audience Events, milestones,

photos

Main blog Present & discuss Repeat visitors, 200 word blogposts,
our projects local press original content

Director blog Inform members, High frequency Longer articles, videos

trustees, etc. visitors, press

Tumblr Build a community Local, young audience User generated content,

‘best of the web’,
original content

Facebook Celebrate the beauty The ‘general audience’ Photos with snappy
of art with our fans text and links

Twitter Inform loyal audience The ‘general audience’ Short text with links

Foursquare Activate digital savvy Digital savvy visitors Discounts, special offers
visitors to share

Instagram Invite young people Local, young audience Photos with snappy
behind our scenes text and links

Pinterest Make the brand visual International art User generated content,
enthusiasts ‘best of the web’,
original content
So, what’s the difference between your Tumblr and
Instagram? Do you need a newsletter and Twitterfeed Google Plus Host exclusive meetups National art enthusiasts Videos, events
to achieve the same objective? around our projects

(And, of course, match this table with your traditional Project app Involve people in our Visitors of our project Project specific
channels. Do you need a mobile website if you have project information
superbly informed staff on the floor? What does your
Members app Inform members, sell Members Events, photos,
members app add for members who know their way
tickets to special events ticket sales, calendar.
to and around your venue perfectly?)

50
Keep it simple!
Reality check! The quality of your digital
engagement strategy is not defined by the
number of channels you use and the elaborate
systems you device to get people from interested
to involved. The quality is in keeping it simple
enough for everyone to understand at once.
Unfortunately, most of your audience will only see
a fraction of your digital engagement strategy. They
miss most of your social media updates, hardly read
any of your blogs, happily ignore important press
releases and don’t care about the lively discussions
going on. It’s not that they don’t care about you.
They do! They also have another full time job and
a lot of other interests. Sorry.
The simpler your strategy (few channels,
straightforward high quality content, clear
invitations, etc.) the more likely people are
to stay with you, even when they miss some
of your updates.
Keeping it simple also keeps it manageable.
A simple digital engagement strategy can be
explained in a couple of sentences. Try yours!
“Our digital strategy is all about adding an extra layer
to a physical visit so our visitors stay in touch with
us. We share high quality additional content on a
blog that stimulates debate, celebrate contributions
on our social media channels and contribute with
our own voice to discussion. We keep in touch
with a regular newsletter and our website.”
Developing a content plan
A content plan tells you what content you need
to make your digital engagement strategy
happen. Ideally, such a plan is a combination
between the content you already have (see your
assets), content you can easily produce and
selected high value content you will specifically
produce for your digital engagement strategy.
A content plan helps you manage and recycle
content.
Start from the overview of your channels. Make
a list of the content you need. How much of
it do you need? Can you use existing content,
create content based on existing content or
do you have to produce new content?
To give you an idea:
Enticing images on Facebook, one daily (as
a good average): where will they come from?
Who will manage the rights? How much would
you need to have queued up if you wanted to
take a two-week holiday?
200-word blogposts about current events,
3 per week: who will spot possibilities?
Who will write, edit, proofread, find images,
check links, publish, promote the posts?
Four-minute video of your director about
the new show: who will produce the video?
Who will edit it? How do you make sure it
fits the busy schedule of your director?
A content plan often looks like a long excel
sheet full of ‘to do’s. Don’t worry about
that: if well thought through, you won’t
have to do all of them yourself.
51
Part G
Seven example frameworks for your organisation

52
Digital engagement for a heritage site
Heritage is all about stories and connecting people
with the past. This example framework gives ideas
about how digital engagement might work for a
mid-sized heritage site with a small collection and
enthusiastic staff and volunteers.
Think for instance about a small castle or an old
factory. Like all other examples in this section, this
one is not exhaustive. It zooms in on some core
ideas such as connecting with niche audiences and
becoming a local online hub.

Assets Reach Blog on gaming blogs

Audience
Yearly re-enactment Hi-speed wifi organise gamers meetup Not reached:
use George for Unique location youngsters
The surrounding area
special effect Blog on local blogs Posters in library everyday hikers
target locals w/
well-located near
Design tours specific yours locals with
a walking trail Add to listing website historical interest
for locals
Volunteers
Ice cream stall Metrics Channels Guidelines
No. of mentions on local blogs Own website/forum Full overview
Guided Tours
blog on website Active
George (our Ghost) No. of visits to our websites
Review sites Healthy
Plants No. of links to our info from gaming blogs
other sites local blogs
Collection of pottery
Reached:
Old photos
Engagement Involve: Tourists on
Regional holiday (national)
Activate: Interest:
Knowledge Ask to share tips for hikes School children on
& things to do a trip
invite UGC tours/ Offer local info on blog
Seniors
tour guides List regional knowledge
on review site

Objectives Vision Trends

1. Increase attendance of activities by The site is a hub for regional history Gaming very popular
local people w/ 35% and discovery, open to everybody. Tourists come for the environment/walking
2. Become an online hub for regional Schools to busy to visit
tourist information. More questions for recommendations
to the volunteers

53
Digital engagement
for an arts council
Arts councils and many other organisations that On the other hand they can benefit from the
have their strength in the institutions and individuals assets of everyone involved and become both
they represent, often struggle with finding the a knowledge and experience base and a niche
right balance between their own digital identity community in the digital age. Try yours!
and the digital identities of those they represent.

Assets Reach Google alerts on Audience

common questions
1000s of email ‘digitise’ emails Not reached:
conversations build online Twitter # searches Art school students
make database
with artists
Database open knowledge base Minority groups
Knowledge of SEA
funding Write timely blogposts/ Limited traditional ‘Amateurs’
Experts cooperatives expert articles advertising General public
Knowledge about Rich people
Policies
Metrics Channels Guidelines
Monday % of new visits to Knowledge base (forum) Trustworthy
breakfast club knowledge base on website Open
magazine No. of members in Tumblr blog Helping hand
community Factual
Google alerts

Friends in Reached:
institutions Engagement Involve: Interest: Our members
Tutors Politicians
Activate: Use knowledge base
Network Community!
Reward system: help = points as trigger General press
Network of Phone numbers
Invite to ‘help an artist’
points = exclusive People looking
artists of politicians in knowledge base/ Opinion pieces on blog
for money
invitations, help etc. Q&A Q & A with stakeholders

Objectives Vision Trends

1. Connect sustainably with 1000+ artists
2. Increase new connections to
the outside world by 25%
The council is the one-stop-shop for Online portfolios: artists live more online
artists and enthusiasts with questions Need for neutral information
about their profession.
Less formal support for the arts

54
Digital engagement
for an exhibition
For one-off events such as exhibitions and
performances, ‘strategy’ may be replaced
with ‘campaign’, although you should never
underestimate the digital potential in the long run
of looking strategically at digital engagement.
Extended runs, reprises or tours turn short events
into multi-year productions, worthy of a strategy.
This example focuses on stimulating visits by
using word-of-mouth and specials as well as
user-generated content to stimulate new visits.

Assets Reach Facebook ads

Audience
Recommendation Harder to reach:
Professional team use reviews in ads based campaign
SEA Local art scene
Popular name
35-55 yr old ex-pats
“Come back
Central location Photo = 1 free ticket Busy parents
for free”
Restaurant for 1 paid ticket

Enough tickets to
give discounts Metrics Channels Guidelines
Good reviews No. of mentions on local blogs Facebook/Google for ads High quality
onsite: hashtags Welcoming
Beautiful venue No. of visits to our websites
Instagram, Tripadvisor etc. Conversation is key
Tours No. of links to our info from Share everything
other sites
Good coffee
Likely to reach:
Objects Engagement Involve: School classes
Interest:
Activate: Upload photos Senior with
with #expo Provide ‘Kodak’ moment enough time
Shared photo = family discount Traditional museum
Onsite: ask for Great exhibition :-) visitor
Share all reviews on website online reviews

Objectives Vision Trends

1. Use visitor for PR The exhibition is an experience you Instagram

want to share, digitally and in real life! people like to create
2. Stimulate 50 positive reviews online
Lots of comments on tripadvisor
3. Have 20% return visitors
Too many options for entertainment

55
Digital engagement
for a festival
Festivals are among the most challenging and Viral effects only work when you’re planning on This example focuses on building trust through
exciting events to design digital strategies for. Why? doing a follow-up, so you’ll have to be creative the acts and visitors attending the festival and
After years of preparation, everything has to go well to build something from scratch. registration for possible future editions.
in a very short time span, sometimes only hours.

Assets Reach Youtube. Facebook Promote via blogs Audience

Popular headlines Online audience

Microbrewery beer 3. Announce 4. Live 1. Announce

more acts Registration some acts Promote via their
“new” Facebook, blog
Small festival with website etc.
limited number of
visitors Metrics Channels Guidelines
Organic food % Community members Website with forum Loose control Family, friends and
appealing location Vs. Tickets sold fans of acts
Social media Share everything
20-25 acts No. of viewers live registration
Channels of acts Friends First
varied lineup Social buzz
Good tech deals
Engagement

2c. reward 2a. Sign up for

2b. online a voice in the
points = Friends of visitors
Q&A festival
discount

Objectives Vision Trends

1. Build a community of visitors A festival of friends, where each Online partying!

before the festival
2. Enable acts to help shape the festival
3. Share the entire festival online
visitor feels personally invited to Acts have strong online fan bases
enjoy something special. Lots of festivals
People look for a unique atmosphere

56
Digital engagement
for a theatre
A typical theatre is a wonderfully diverse place
where people come to enjoy plays, dance, music
and other performing arts, but also to eat, drink,
socialise and maybe enjoy a small exhibition.
At the same time, the theatre is only the venue for To build loyal visitors, this framework
all these fun things and visitors might relate more to tries to turn Facebook fans into paying
the theatre companies and others using the venue. members and uses behind-the-scenes
information to reach out to audiences.

Assets Reach Audience

add to listing website Better Facebook events
dance Should come in but
comedy music don’t
Produce 2 minute video Share on outside screen
teasers of our behind the Behind the scenes videos Crowds on the square
Shows Broadcast in Café (mostly youngsters,
theatre cabaret scenes: what we do
Share online skateboarders, artists,
youth award etc.)
own productions White wine drinkers
Events Metrics Channels Guidelines in the cafe (mostly
“drama in 25 - 35 years old, no
farmers market Ticket sales (and % to 1. indoor scenes (tease) “Better a good neighbour
open air” kids, enough money
new visitors) 2. FB/newsletter (entice flirts than a far friend” but ‘no time’)
popular café Number of flirts and members We show what we do
(queues!) Come in and should
number of members 3. Website (basic information “Only flirt when you mean it.” do so more often
Products Views of videos and service) Support & service first Our “friends” (both
formal and informal,
popular book store
Flirts are interested. We involve “Friends” are 1) on mailing same 200 people
Engagement them with curatorial power (which list or 2) on FB. Some are always)
large screen free wifi
outside Once a year: show will we do again?), making members 55+, no more kids,
history! them ambassadors (show a come for best shows
“lets take the next step” flirts are FB & mailing list = 1 step to
lots of Venue friend around) and encouraging
invited to become members (at full membership The local art and
free seats central location blogging, tweeting etc. with tours
flirting night). No discount: call to Give specials and exclusives culture scene on
:-(
square in front action and intros. to flirts, e.g. early access etc. opening night

Objectives Vision Trends

1. Show as many people as possible what
we’re really doing
2. Develop a loyal group of fans/members
who are connected to us
We’re your friend in discovering performing art
More openness > show what we do
Increased interest for “local” > support other local
initiatives
Lots of alternatives popping up > make clear why
to pick us

57
Digital engagement
for a local library
The local library is where love of reading begins. This example framework proposes a focus
The rooms full of books and readers are among on online recommendations as a service and
our favourite places in the world. At the same enticing readers to do more at the library.
time the digital revolution hasn’t been easy
on anything and anyone book-related.

Assets Reach “We’re the well-informed recommendation engine” Audience

books fiction Facebook book Q&A: reader ask for idea, Different twitter personalities Troubled readers
graphic novels we crowdsource the answer sort through articles & opinions (They read, but don’t
dictionaries crimis “Beat Amazon” recommendation night and combine them with library come to the library.)
magazines bibles (bring your books and we tell you what stuff
to read next, better than they can) Active twitter users
cookbooks
Bloggers
photo books
Online news addicts
guide books
Metrics Channels Guidelines E-book readers
Non-books games
Hits on website Our Facebook We’re about readers, not books Amazon buyers
DVDs newspapers
4 Twitter personalities Instagrammers!
board games Engagement on Facebook Every visitor is welcome
CDs Coffee Online catalogue/website (Photo essays
Visitors to events Friendly and books.)
Stuff we know Onsite events
literary knowledge Hip book clubs.
writers user data Happy readers
recommendations Engagement “We go beyond books and provide a fun social experience”
Our members
Things we do Fans are activated We put a flyer asking people to like us
by empowering FB fans are invited to special events on facebook in all books. Like a secret! Families with young
tours book clubs
them to help us help at the library, where they can mingle. children who come to
lectures debates On Facebook we share secret stories
troubled readers Sometimes events are only promoted read in our library
exhibitions about the library and our best advice
in books people borrow (secret) to troubled readers. Traditional book clubs

Objectives Vision Trends

1. Put our collections in context Our library is for all readers, even those People read less
2. Get more traffic to our online catalogue who don’t like books. E-books
3. Increase enthusiasm for our events Library > books
with our loyal readers Readers get their fix online
4. Improve our name in the community

58
Digital engagement
for an artist
Can you use the digital engagement framework It also shows how, through crowdfunding, an
for yourself? Well, yes, we believe you can. artist might find alternative sources of income
In this example we show how an artist could to make work. Of course any independent
use the framework to find an audience, build professional can use the framework similarly.
a brand and connect with an audience.

Assets Reach Objective: get on the front page of Wired Audience

Ideas about media
First: everybody
Flying puppy Create a funny viral Combine with smart Push blog to small Repeat until I’m
interested in
video idea video with help of blog about puppies blogs, using my on Wired
reflecting on
PR friends reflecting on media Twitter and Facebook
Some PR friends modern media

84 subscribers
on Youtube Metrics Channels Guidelines
450 fans on Then: people with
Add 1: check front page of Wired Videos 1. have fun
Facebook spare money, or a
Add 2: check email My new blog/ Tumblr 2. make friends stage, or a gallery,
Nice portfolio or a festival etc.
Add 3: check bank account Other people’s blogs
2k+ photos of puppies
and their owners

Sculptures of Engagement Raise 50k for my own ambitious project

puppies
And: people interested
Make videos with Use blogs, videos and new, Start Kickstarter Use video to
in supporting me.
donators, let them original material to promote campaign after introduce ideas
tell the story the campaign. Empower enough buzz in about puppy/boss
friends and existing fans other blogs encyclopaedia

Objectives Vision Trends

1. Make the front page of Wired
2. Get 2 emails from interested strangers per day
3. Raise 50K for an ambitious project
Digital media will make me known around the I spend too much time on Facebook
world and allow me to create my work Crowdfunding
Work gets “stolen” and put on
Instagram, Pinterest, etc.

59
Your digital engagement framework
How about you and your organisation? Copy the ideas
you like best from this book, your own imagination
and what your team and colleagues share with you
into this Digital Engagement Framework and start
building from there. Good luck!

Assets Reach Audience

Metrics Channels Guidelines

Engagement

Objectives Vision Trends

60
Part H
Making it happen
10 weeks to a digital Week Activity Advice
engagement strategy
01 Put a large empty DEF on the wall of your
The Digital Engagement Framework helps you ask all office. Buy post-its, pens, paper, charge your
relevant questions to develop a digital engagement camera. Schedule meetings and sessions
strategy. But who will answer these questions? Who with key colleagues.
will ask them? And when?
Any DEF process will need a trailblazer. We assume 02 Interview key colleagues (director, ask them about vision, assets and audiences
that’s you. You will be asking the questions. You will management team, educational staff, etc.)
be finding the middle way in all the answers. Do desk research about the competition
Who you’ll be asking depends a lot on your
organisation, but even if you’re alone and working 03 Tour your venue/location/office look for unknown assets
independently, you will have to ask other people.
Directors, colleagues, visitors, competitors, external
04 Summarise your findings so far: What could we make beautiful presentations of our
experts and anyone else who has something sensible
the vision be? What are important conditions findings to inspire people
to say about any of the elements of the DEF.
for your digital engagement strategy?
How you will ask them, again, depends on your
situation and confidence with facilitating change
05 4/6-hour workshop on trends, vision, see next page
and strategy development processes. Don’t worry
objectives, assets and audiences
about asking for help: these things can be tough.
We recommend to work fast, include as many
06 4/6-hour workshop on reach and
people as possible and break all the questions up in
engagement. Finish with guidelines and
a number of creative sessions that you will facilitate.
what your colleagues need in order to get
What such a process and such sessions might look the job done.
like is shown in this last part of the book.

07 Summarise the outcomes of the sessions

and draft your digital engagement strategy.

08 Get feedback on your draft from all involved. if you don’t feel 100% convinced about your
Do a reality check, e.g. with an external strategy, repeat week 7 and 8 until you are.
consultant.

09 Finalise the strategy with all the feedback.

10 Present the digital engagement strategy to and start planning your actions!
your directors or management team.

61
A digital engagement
framework workshop

Time Activity Advice

10:00 am Welcome and introduction

10:15 am Warming up exercise: “Our Make sure everybody has a shared goal and
organisation in 5 years time.” understands each other.

11:00 am Trends: what are the top 3 e.g. ask people to write down their ideas
developments affecting us. first, then gain support for them in a short
presentation.

11:30 am From vision to objectives and

setting realistic goals.

12:30 am Audiences: who are we doing it for? You can try to build personas with real
names to talk about audiences.

1:30 pm Assets: what are we doing it with? Here you can for instance use a technique
called affinity mapping.

2:30 pm Wrap up and conclusion. Try to summarise as much as possible: “Our

vision is ..., our objectives are ....” and ask
people to agree or make adjustments.

3:00 pm End

N.B. This is just a draft of a workshop. We like using

gamestorming techniques, structured dialogue and
other creative methods to make meetings engaging
and fun. Use lots of post-its, ask people to translate
ideas into real life situations, build prototypes of
activities and discuss core ideas and values until
you’re sure everybody is on board.

62
Case Study
A digital engagement strategy for education
The National Gallery of Art,
Washington DC
Late in 2012, the National Gallery of Art in
Washington DC had no unified approach to public-
facing digital projects. As a first step towards a
strategic plan for the organisation, Dana Allen-Greil
was asked to help the Department of Education
develop a digital engagement strategy.
Dana says, “During December 2012 through
February 2013, I conducted a series of nine
workshops which, as a whole, included every staff
person in the Department of Education.” For ease
of organisation, the workshops were carried out
with each of the departments that make up the
Department of Education. She continues, “I think
there are pros and cons to organising these sessions
with individual close-knit departments.” A sure
benefit of the approach was that colleagues knew
each other well and often shared the same vision
and ideas. On the other hand this meant a lot of
work for Dana aligning the outcomes of the different
workshops.
The workshops were short and high-paced. To
counter the lack of knowledge and experience
with digital projects among staff, Dana focused
on the organisation-specific elements of the DEF
and later added her own digital knowledge: “We
talked about all of the Gallery’s assets, not just
digital ones. And we talked about our educational
ambitions, not just what would be achievable
through digital. I knew that once I had the
[organisational input], I could use my experience
and expertise to help tease out the solutions in
terms of content, platforms, and other specifics.”
“We talked about all of the
The workshops were highly participatory, involving Gallery’s assets, not just digital
structured discussions and lots of post-it notes. ones. And we talked about our
Because of the number of workshops, Dana could
experiment with the impact of different ways to ask educational ambitions, not
questions about elements. Some resonated better just what would be achievable
than others. For instance, when talking about the
vision, the question, ‘If you were to win an award at
through digital. I knew that once
the end of your career, how would you want someone I had the [organisational input],
to describe what you were able to accomplish?’ I could use my experience and
worked well, particularly for mid-career and older
staff. ‘What might your audience say about how your
expertise to help tease out the
program impacted them?’ was another way of asking solutions in terms of content,
this question that seemed to work well for people. platforms, and other specifics.”
With so many participants, change management Dana Allen-Greil,
becomes key to success. Dana says, “During the The National Gallery of Art
workshops, I took photos of each completed sheet. Washington DC
To foster collaboration and model transparency, I
created a wiki for the digital strategy planning that
was accessible to everyone in Department of
Education.”
Dana’s hard work and structured approach were
not unsuccessful. Near the end of her strategy
development process, the National Gallery of Art
decided to appoint an outside consultant to do the
same things for the entire organisation. The strategy
Dana developed together with 50+ employees at
the Department of Education serves as example and
influential input in this overall strategic plan which is
currently under development.
63
Our best advice
So, we’ve just written a book about how to
successfully implement digital media in your
organisation and turn it into a social institution,
and only now we’re giving our best advice?
As we said at the beginning, any framework
is a simplification of reality. And the reality of
implementing a digital engagement strategy
is rather complicated. Our best advice is meant
to help you cross the divide between the simple
framework and the complicated reality.
So, how to make digital engagement happen
in your organisation?
Jasper: The most important success factor is to get everyone in your
organisation on board. That’s why we talk so much about workshops and
involving your team. I call this urge and enthusiasm. Everyone understands
the urgency and is enthusiastic about digital.
Jim: You cannot separate talking about digital engagement from discussions
about your brand and overall strategy. Make sure these are and stay aligned.
Jasper: Your director doesn’t have to understand digital, but he/she needs to
trust you know what you’re doing. Start with simple pilots before you develop
complex strategies.
Jim: Don’t be shy to hire experts for tasks you do not feel comfortable with.
Building a website, designing an app, facilitating a workshop... In the end an
expert is often cheaper than working all night to deliver on a promise.
Jasper: Build a network of likeminded people in and out of your organisation who
you can ask for feedback and input. It’s impossible to know everything yourself.
Jim: Start small and think big. It takes years for a digital engagement strategy to
fulfil all its promises, give it some time.
More best advice? Follow blogs, go to conferences and talk to strangers as
much as you can.
64
 Your turn: how to give back?
The first edition of the Digital Engagement
Framework was developed late in 2011 on the
back of a coaster, partly because legend tells us
this is where great ideas are born. From there we
adjusted and tuned and changed the framework
until it became what it is today: a collaborative
product that brings together years of experience
and ideas from people from all over the world.
That’s also how we can encourage you to take
this and use it to your own benefit. It’s ours.
Although a book is always a pretty strong
statement, this doesn’t mean all ideas are fixed
in stone. They will evolve and the framework
will continue to change when the world around
it changes. You are part of this process.
We’d like to encourage you to give back your
experiences with the framework to the wider
community. Review this book on your blog and
add your own experiences, write about your
digital engagement strategy development in
magazines, tweet about your ideas. Share.
If you don’t have a platform of your own,
feel free to email your experience, ideas and
feedback to us. We’re also here to answer
your questions and consider your ideas.
Thanks and see you soon,

Jasper Visser
Jim Richardson

65
Sumo is a design company specialising in the arts and cultural
sector. They create great design which turns heads, grabs
hearts and inspires audiences to attend the arts more often.
www.sumodesign.co.uk

Inspired by Coffee is an agency for digital strategy. They help

cultural organisations excel in the digital age with better audience
development, business models and communication strategies.
www.inspiredbycoffee.com

This publication is available under a Creative Commons

Attribution-Share Alike license. Copyright 2013,
Jasper Visser & Jim Richardson.